Robert Genin

(Wisokoje bei Smolensk (Russland) 1884 - 1943 Moskau)

An autodidact, Genin first tries his hand at art in Vilna and Odessa. In 1902, he studies in Munich. During a stay in Paris in 1903, he becomes an enthusiastic admirer of the art of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. From 1904 until 1907, he travels widely in France, Italy, and Egypt. He returns to Munich in 1911, making friends with Wassily Kandinsky, Marianne von Werefkin, and Alexej von Jawlensky. In 1912, he publishes his first portfolio, titled “Figürliche Kompositionen” (“Figural Compositions”). After his first solo show at Galerie Thannhauser in Munich in 1913, he is a founding member of the “New Munich Secession” in 1914. In 1919, he relocates to Ascona, where he is close to Jawlensky and Werefkin and is introduced to the collector Karl Im Obersteg, whose guest he will be on numerous occasions in the following years. In 1926, he travels to Bali. Having set up a studio in Paris in 1930, he works in the French capital until his return to Moscow in 1937.